Monday, November 11, 2013

Sweet on Sweet Potatoes


If you want to incorporate healthier options than the usual rice/pasta/potatoes in your dinner rotation but you're afraid it'll take too much time or trouble, you'll love Jim Dixon's easy-to-fix, delicious sautéed sweet potatoes.

Since it’s that time of year, Real Good Food now offers Starvation Alley organic cranberry juice. Freshly squeezed and unsweetened, it’s not the stuff you swill for breakfast, but it’s great in all kinds of cocktails, with a splash of fizzy water or as a tart, acidic flavor note in all kinds of savory dishes. Like this one.

Cranberry-Roasted Sweet Potatoes

I got these nice little sweet potatoes (top photo) from my friends at Groundwork Organics, but the jewel or garnet versions sold in the produce section will work just fine. Fun fact: even if they’re called yams, all of them sold in these parts are Ipomoea batatas, aka sweet potatoes. True yams only grow in the tropics. Get a couple of pounds.

If your sweet potatoes are big, cut them into chunks about 3/4 of an inch thick (don’t peel, just scrub). Arrange them in a single layer in a heavy skillet or roasting pan, add a sliced onion and toss with extra virgin olive oil.

Mix about a half cup of the cranberry juice* with a couple of tablespoons of sorghum syrup (order via e-mail), honey or maple syrup. Pour it over the vegetables and sprinkle liberally with salt. Roast at 350° for about an hour, tossing the vegetables at least once so all sides spend some time in the juice. It's done when the sweet potatoes are tender; serve the reduced cranberry juice from the pan in a bowl at the table and spoon it onto the sweet potatoes.

* You can find other brands of unsweetened cranberry juice at New Seasons, Whole Foods and other markets.

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